Russia offers economic opportunity

Our respective Senate committees are charged with overseeing the engines of America’s unique role in the world: as global trading partner, the leading democracy and a force for international peace. We clearly see how our global economic interests and our foreign policy values are closely tied — which makes a persuasive case for us to seize the opportunity presented by Russia joining the World Trade Organization this summer.

For U.S. businesses to take advantage of this opportunity to increase exports and create jobs our economy needs, Congress must establish permanent normal trade relations, or PNTR, with Russia. That is why we introduced a bill last month with our colleagues Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) to do just that.

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The upside of this policy is clear on an international economic landscape that rarely offers this kind of one-sided trade deal — one promising billions of dollars in new U.S. exports and thousands of new jobs in America.

Russia is the world’s seventh-largest economy. When it officially joins the WTO, it will lower tariffs and welcome new imports. That sudden jump in market access will be a windfall for the first ones through the doors.

U.S. businesses won’t be alone, however. They will most likely face competition from Chinese chemical and plastic producers, Japanese automakers and European airplane manufacturers, among countless others overseas.

Why must we act with urgency? Because, as Andrew Carnegie once said, “The first man gets the oyster; the second man gets the shell.” For U.S. businesses to get the oyster, Congress must first repeal the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment and approve Russia PNTR.

Jackson-Vanik’s history is important. Congress passed it during the Cold War to pressure the Soviet Union to allow Russian Jews to emigrate freely. It was successful, and the Kremlin relented.

But the Soviet Union collapsed more than two decades ago. Every U.S. president, regardless of political party, has waived Jackson-Vanik’s requirements for Russia since 1994. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the National Conference on Soviet Jewry and even Israel now support the repeal of Jackson-Vanik for Russia. The bill is a relic of another era.

But this relic is now standing in the way of Washington solving a new set of challenges. With too many Americans still searching for a job, our manufacturing sector needs every boost it can get. Despite progress, our trade deficit remains too wide. Seizing this opportunity to increase exports to Russia is one way to make concrete progress.